Lifted Spirits and Smiles
by The Convergence
Summary: For Kate. It's Christmas- again, and Caitlin misses Ronnie- again. It's nothing new, but nonetheless, Barry and Cisco attempt to lift her spirits with a fun holiday night.


**The Convergence Secret Santa 2016**

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 **For:** Kate  
 **Character:** Caitlin Snow  
 **Other Characters Used:** Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Genre(s):** Friendship  
 **Message to your person:** Happy Holidays, my good friend! I hope this holiday one-shot will lift your spirits for a merry Christmas!

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 **Lifted Spirits and Smiles**

 _It's Christmas- again, and Caitlin misses Ronnie- again. It's nothing new, but nonetheless, Barry and Cisco attempt to lift her spirits with a fun holiday night._

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"Come on, Cait- we'll go out for drinks, maybe do some karaoke, and definitely eat some of those free candy canes Jitters offers." Cisco clapped his hands together, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. At Caitlin's lack of response, he spread his hands, admitting, "Fine, all of them, but- I still don't see why you're so down. It's Christmas!"

Cisco's attempt at jazz hands did, indeed, cause a smile to pull at her lips as she chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm not entirely sure I'm interested in listening to your drunk rendition of 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland.' I know that I'm not willing to go through that again." She shuddered, hiding a smile.

"Yeah, neither am I, exactly." In a moment, Barry was at their side, grinning and dressed well for the season in a Santa Claus outfit- beard and all. At seeing their plain clothes, he glanced around, slight confusion taking over his expression. "What? I thought we were dressing up for the occasion."

Cisco snickered, and Caitlin gave him a sort of motherly, scolding look that she'd been perfecting over the years. "We changed our mind," he supplied simply, offering an innocent smile.

Barry huffed. "You know I could just run back and change out of this, right?"

"Oh, we know. But you're not going to, because that's not what friends do," Caitlin teased him, although her smile was partly forced and her laugh was weak. Cisco glanced at her, his smile fading. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah- I just- I've got a lot on my mind," Caitlin murmured with a firm nod. "But don't let my moody spirit block you from enjoying the holiday."

Cisco gave her a look, one that said, 'Ronnie?' without even talking. She gave a small nod- yes, she missed Ronnie, but it wasn't the first Christmas she'd spent without him. She would deal with it- even if it was only Barry and Cisco's sake.

Barry, sensing the fact that she didn't want to talk more, suggested, "So- Jitters?"

"Sounds good to me." Cisco spoke for her, a fact that she was glad for. Giving him a kind, if tired, smile, she followed them out the door.

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"That's just not fair." Caitlin tried to fix Barry with a scolding look but failed miserably, her spirits lifted by drinks and the general holiday spirit. Watching Barry down drink after drink only made her envy his inability to get drunk even more, but she was handling herself rather well- she hadn't drunk much, mostly out of fear that she would end up belting out 'Baby It's Cold Outside' at the top of her lungs in front of a large crowd. Cisco, however, had unintelligently challenged Barry to a drinking contest- one that he was bound to lose, of course, but part of Caitlin knew that he'd done it just to amuse her. And she appreciated it.

Barry tipped his head back and grinned, giving a sort of shrug. "I'm just... taking advantage of my abilities," he replied, eyes darting from Caitlin to Cisco and back again.

Cisco shook his head and sighed, setting down his cup. "Nope. There's no way I can do it," he mumbled, his voice a bit slurred, although he righted himself quickly and easily. After all, he got out much more than Caitlin did, a fact she knew well.

Caitlin offered a small smile, patting him on the back. "The loss was inevitable," she said with a quiet chuckle, rubbing her arms despite the fact that she wasn't cold. "Where to next?"

"Karaoke?"

It was Cisco's suggestion, and the moment she heard it, she bubbled over in laughter and shook her head. "No, no no no no no- there's no way I'm doing that again."

Barry gave a mischievous smile, even bothering to rub his hands together. "Oh, I think we have other ideas." At the face she made, he gave her shoulder a nudge and added, "C'mon, Cait- it'll be fun. You need this. It's Christmas."

"And besides- we can book a private room or something- so the only ones who can judge you are Barry and I ourselves," Cisco added with a grin. "Not that that's much better, but..."

Barry gave a slight roll of his eyes, and Caitlin followed his example. Giving an over-exaggerated sigh as she stifled a laugh, she nodded and murmured, "Fine, let's go."

Wrapping her coat tighter around herself, she did her best to give a true smile as Cisco began singing an off-key rendition of some Spanish Christmas song she'd never heard before- and found that, surprisingly enough, one came easy. Wrapping an arm around Barry's shoulders and hanging the other over Cisco's, she laughed as she and the speedster attempted to sing along, mumbling incoherent words that sounded close enough. And as they stepped out onto the snow-lined sidewalk, lit by flickering streetlights and colorful Christmas lights strung over buildings and trees, she silently thanked that even if she didn't have Ronnie, the love of her life- she was glad that she at least had wonderful friends to make up for it.

That was why she kept the smile on her face for the rest of the night.

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 **Disclaimer:** The Convergence Roleplay and any themes related to it belong to Rhya and Lena (links on profile). All OC's belong to their respective creators, all Canon Characters belong to their respective franchises and all credit for the fic itself goes to the Santa who wrote it.

 **The Convergence Roleplay:** Trapped in a new world, with no way out. Characters from 19 different worlds have been brought together and must struggle in a world that constantly creates more mysteries than it solves. With no new answers ever coming to light, they must start to wonder - is there really a reason why they're here?

The Convergence is a multifandom roleplay, featuring Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Divergence, Fox MCU, Star Trek, The Maze Runner, the DC Extended and Television Universes, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Mortal Instruments and House M.D and the various spin-offs. Check out the link in the profile for more information!


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